Not sure if this has been mentioned (I'm skimming), but for what it's worth, Jeremy was offered an alternate spot and declined it. He declined it to recoup and work on his quad. This came straight from Yuka's mouth in the hotel lobby at the Hilton after the event.

I love how people make it out that Ross performed so poorly at Worlds in 2011 when he actually skated quite well there, as did Richard. 11th in such a deep field for someone with no street cred was actually a pretty good result. Not enough for 3 spots but Hersh makes it sound like he bombed at Worlds.

Ross was the 3rd USA skater in a group of 3, one of which (Ryan) had never had ISU cred, the 2nd of whom was a Junior (like Kovtun, competing as a senior), and then there was Ross, who had been 3rd at Jr. Worlds, and been injured most of the previous season.

Ross landed all his stuff at 2011 Worlds:

Here's his scorecard. There is exactly one negative GOE in the bunch. It was a heck of a debut, I thought. His biggest flaw was getting a level 1 on his opening step.
YMMV

I completely disagree that Les Mis is a horrible piece of music. I think it's dramatic, lyrical, and I think Jeremy skated the stuffing out of it. If he had skated as well as he did at last year's Nats we would be talking about how he could medal ahead of the Japanese and challenge Chan on pcs alone! It was a perfect piece of music and beautiful choreography for Jeremy. His level of maturity and his ability to interpret his music made it a marraige on the ice. He just didn't skate clean!!! Now if someone like Nathan Chen skated to it I would tend to agree with serious business. I have to say it was my favorite long program at Nats this year and not just in the men's programs. I just wish he had skated clean. (sound like a broken record here)

As for Jeremy's size.......he is very tall but he has no definition in his arms and has narrow shoulders. I think his costumes the past couple of years have been appropriate for his body type. I think he would look ridiculous in a body suit with sequins at this stage.

Hey, I have a couple quick questions about Jason Brown. Someone mentioned earlier that his coach, Kori Ade, is moving to Colorado Springs, and that Jason will move with her. Is this confirmed? And what about Jason's choreographer, Rohene Ward? Lastly, and I'm not sure if this is okay to ask, but are Kori and Rohene a couple or just coworkers? Scott Hamilton seemed to refer to them as a couple during the NBC telecast, but I may have misinterpreted that. Just wondering. Thanks.

Kori is married & has a family with someone other than Rohene. It isn't necessary to have your choreographer with you at all times, and I imagine Jason will be headed home from Co Springs from time to time. When he does, he can always get some work on his choreography from Rohene, if Rohene isn't skating in one of the European Holiday on Ice tours, something he has been doing of late.

You know if judges handed out PCS based on the actual criteria and not how many jumps skaters landed, the gap between Abbott and Aaron would have been so huge, Abbott would have crushed him even with multiple errors on the jumps. Sadly the reality of judging is very different.

I remember that last time I watched Aaron (JGPF two seasons ago I think?), he had a performance worthy of 1.75 IN. He just ignored the music. This season more effort has been put into his choreography and he has improved his presentation slightly but it's still terrible.

It really irks me to see so many people say that Max Aaron was the best skater in the SP & FS overall. He wasn't. He landed the most difficult jumps, yes, but he was far, far from being the best skater overall.

P.S. I owe an apology to Max Aaron, I think he's actually tweezed for Nationals. ;P

This. I really wish more skaters used Dickson instead of Lori Zzzichol.

What is amazing about it? The vast majority of competitive skaters are never able to achieve landing that jump consistently.

He's been competing both at international and national level for ages now. This was his 4th Senior Nationals. He was also a Junior bronze medallist. And he has a gold and a bronze JGP medal and made the JGPF once.http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs_cr_00010277.htm

It holds true for PCS judging in general. With very very few exceptions, judges never differentiate their PCS marks even though the skaters they are judging usually display very different levels of the PCS abilities.

Yes, something like that. Also, I think that SS is the thing judges notice and care about the most. It was the same during 6.0 days. Presentation mark was basically a skating skills mark even though skating skills were supposed to be evaluated in the technical mark.

ISU really should bring in split judging panels. I believe it's not possible to fully focus on both the elements and the PCS.

I don't think Jeremy is really that tall. He only looked an inch or two taller than Miner and Farris on the podium, and those two don't strike me as being tall, maybe skater average. Max is really, really tiny though! Not even his height I mean his frame, he's got some big muscles but his frame is very narrow. He is built like a gymnast I'm not surprised if that helps him be such a good jumper.

If he had skated as well as he did at last year's Nats we would be talking about how he could medal ahead of the Japanese and challenge Chan on pcs alone! It was a perfect piece of music and beautiful choreography for Jeremy. His level of maturity and his ability to interpret his music made it a marraige on the ice. He just didn't skate clean!!!

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. If he had skated as well as he did last year, we'd all be wondering if he wasn't still going to choke at World's, since that has been the established pattern.

And let's be honest... who among us REALLY expected that he would rise to the occassion after Max Aaron threw out that amazing score? Face it... deep down you knew he'd spit the bit, didn't you?

I do think he can still be relevant, but I think he should consider a change of coaching. I loved Yuka Sato as a skater, but I don't think she and Jason have done him any favors from a technical or mental toughness standpoint.

- Jonathan Cassar's spread eagles...he, by far, over anyone else, benefits from the choreographic step sequence. yes we can knock him on his lack of a competitive jump arsenal. but year in year out, he's back at nationals doing what he loves, performing and skating for fans who appreciate what he DOES DO on the ice. it is a pity he doesn't get more in PCS from the judges...but he made it onto the NBC broadcast

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. If he had skated as well as he did last year, we'd all be wondering if he wasn't still going to choke at World's, since that has been the established pattern.

And let's be honest... who among us REALLY expected that he would rise to the occassion after Max Aaron threw out that amazing score? Face it... deep down you knew he'd spit the bit, didn't you?

I do think he can still be relevant, but I think he should consider a change of coaching. I loved Yuka Sato as a skater, but I don't think she and Jason have done him any favors from a technical or mental toughness standpoint.

EDIT: grammar

If Jeremy at this stage of his career hasn't figured out how to be mentally tough then i don't see a new coach helping him. As for technical i just think his soon to be 28 year old body is getting worn down.

Jeremy needs to put more fire into his skating. I thought his LP was rather boring with a lot of arm waving and not much else. He needs to get that spark back like he had the 1st time he won Nationals. His program than was one of the best ever.

Not sure if this has been mentioned (I'm skimming), but for what it's worth, Jeremy was offered an alternate spot and declined it. He declined it to recoup and work on his quad. This came straight from Yuka's mouth in the hotel lobby at the Hilton after the event.

that's good to hear. this way he can just move on and not keep half training "just in case."

So given the outcome, I'm curious as to what people think about Max's odds to make the Sochi Olympic team next year? I assume Ross will be on the team, and if there's 3 spots, I'd say Max's chances are pretty good, but if only 2, idk. And I'm not convinced Abbott will be making that team either. It's amazing how different everything seems now from just one year ago in regards to the men.